First Regular Session of the 124th General Assembly (2025)
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between statutes enacted by the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
HOUSE ENROLLED ACT No. 1081
AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning business and other
associations.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
SECTION 1. IC 16-37-1-10, AS AMENDED BY HEA 1148-2025,
SECTION 4, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 10. (a) Information contained in a birth record is
confidential and may be disclosed only in accordance with this article.
(b) Except as provided in section 7.5 of this chapter and subsections
(c) and (d), the records and files of the division of the state department
concerning vital statistics are subject to this article and rules of the
state department. Data contained in the records and files may be
disclosed only as follows:
(1) The state registrar shall permit inspection of the records or
issue a certified copy of a certificate or part of a certificate only
if the state registrar is satisfied of the following:
(A) That the applicant has a direct interest in the matter
recorded. An applicant for a certificate of death has a direct
interest in the certificate of death if the applicant is a
beneficiary of the deceased's individual retirement
account, retirement account, brokerage transfer on death
account, annuity, or life insurance policy.
(B) That the information is necessary for the determination of
personal or property rights or for compliance with state or
federal law.
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The state registrar's decision is subject to review by the state
department or a court under this section.
(2) The state department may disclose identifiable vital statistics
information to a legitimate researcher, if the researcher complies
with the following requirements:
(A) The researcher states in writing to the state department the
purpose, including:
(i) any intent to publish findings;
(ii) the nature of the data sought;
(iii) the personal information that would be required; and
(iv) the safeguards that will be taken to protect the identity
of the data subjects.
(B) The researcher executes an agreement with the state
department, on a form approved by the oversight committee on
public records established under IC 5-15-5.1-18, that:
(i) incorporates safeguards for protection of individual data
subjects;
(ii) defines the scope of the research project; and
(iii) informs the researcher that failure to abide by
conditions of the approved agreement constitutes a breach
of contract and could result in civil litigation by any data
subject.
(C) The researcher agrees to pay any direct or indirect costs of
the research.
The state department shall determine whether the proposed
safeguards are adequate to prevent the identity of an individual
data subject from being known before approving the agreement.
Upon execution of an agreement described in this subdivision, the
state department shall maintain a copy of the agreement for the
duration of the agreement's effective date.
(3) In any extraordinary case that the state registrar determines is
a direct tangible and legitimate public interest.
(c) Notwithstanding subsection (b)(1) through (b)(3), a certificate
of death received by a local health department (as defined in
IC 16-18-2-211) or the state department is a public record that, upon
request, must be made available for inspection and copying if:
(1) the copy made of the certificate of death is not a certified
copy;
(2) any Social Security number that appears on the certificate of
death is redacted; and
(3) any charge or fee that is due under section 9, 11, or 11.5 of
this chapter is collected.
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(d) The birth record of an adopted child remains subject to the
confidentiality provisions of IC 31-19 regarding the release of adoption
information.
(e) The state registrar may deny a request to inspect or copy a record
concerning vital statistics that is in the state registrar's possession if the
state registrar has a reasonable suspicion that releasing the record may
result in fraud or identity theft.
SECTION 2. IC 23-17-25.7 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE
AS A NEW CHAPTER TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
JULY 1, 2025]:
Chapter 25.7. Charitable Organization Beneficiary Bequest
Protections
Sec. 1. The following definitions apply throughout this chapter:
(1) "Charitable organization" means any entity that is:
(A) recognized as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code; and
(B) organized under IC 23-17-3.
(2) "Deceased" means a person who has:
(A) died; and
(B) designated a charitable organization as the beneficiary
of an individual retirement account, retirement account,
brokerage transfer on death account, annuity, or life
insurance policy.
(3) "Financial institution" means any:
(A) bank;
(B) trust company;
(C) corporate fiduciary;
(D) savings association;
(E) credit union;
(F) savings bank;
(G) bank of discount and deposit;
(H) industrial loan and investment company; or
(I) investment company;
organized or reorganized under Indiana law, the law of
another state (as defined in IC 28-2-17-19), or United States
law.
Sec. 2. If a charitable organization is designated as the
beneficiary of an individual retirement account, retirement
account, brokerage transfer on death account, annuity, or life
insurance policy, a financial institution or insurance company in
control of the funds shall do the following:
(1) Transfer the funds directly to the charitable organization
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upon receipt of an affidavit submitted by the charitable
organization that contains the following information:
(A) A statement by the charitable organization confirming
that it is tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code.
(B) A copy of a corporate resolution authorizing the
acceptance of the transferred funds.
(C) An Internal Revenue Service Form W-9 for
identification.
(D) A copy of:
(i) the deceased's death certificate; or
(ii) other documentation that is authorized by the
financial institution or insurance company to prove that
the deceased has died.
(2) Shall not require:
(A) personal information, including the Social Security
number, home address, and date of birth, of any employee,
officer, or agent of the charitable organization; or
(B) the charitable organization to open an account or
otherwise become a customer of the financial institution or
insurance company;
as a condition of transferring the funds.
(3) If the financial institution or insurance company notifies
the charitable organization of the fact that the charitable
organization has been designated as the beneficiary of the
deceased's individual retirement account, retirement account,
brokerage transfer on death account, annuity, or life
insurance policy, the financial institution or insurance
company must provide the name of the deceased to the
charitable organization.
Sec. 3. (a) A financial institution or insurance company that
receives the affidavit described in section 2(1) of this chapter shall:
(1) comply with the requirements of section 2 of this chapter;
or
(2) provide to the charitable organization that submitted the
affidavit described in section 2(1) of this chapter a reasonable
justification for not complying with the requirements of
section 2 of this chapter;
not later than sixty (60) days after receiving the affidavit.
(b) It is a reasonable justification for not complying with the
requirements of section 2 of this chapter if compliance would cause
a financial institution to violate:
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(1) 12 U.S.C. 1829b, 12 U.S.C. 1951-1960, 31 U.S.C.
5311-5314, 31 U.S.C. 5316-5336, 31 CFR 1000-1099, or any
other federal law or regulation;
(2) the rules of a self-regulatory organization registered under
the federal Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78); or
(3) the laws of this state.
(c) If compliance with the requirements of section 2 of this
chapter would cause a violation of a federal law described in
subsection (b), the financial institution shall include in its
reasonable justification a request to the charitable organization to
provide the information required to comply with the federal law
described in subsection (b).
(d) If a financial institution or insurance company fails to
comply or provide a reasonable justification for not complying
with the requirements of section 2 of this chapter not later than
sixty (60) days after receiving the affidavit described in section 2(1)
of this chapter, a court may:
(1) award the charitable organization damages sustained due
to the delay in receiving the funds under section 2 of this
chapter;
(2) award the charitable organization court costs, including
attorney's fees; and
(3) impose a civil penalty on the financial institution or
insurance company in an amount not less than five hundred
dollars ($500) and not more than ten thousand dollars
($10,000) per incident.
Sec. 4. A charitable organization may bring an action in court
under section 3(d) of this chapter or file a complaint with the
applicable primary regulator with jurisdiction over a financial
institution or an insurance company if the charitable organization
believes that a financial institution or insurance company is not
complying with this chapter. If a charitable organization files a
complaint, the applicable primary regulator shall investigate the
complaint. The applicable primary regulator may impose a civil
penalty on the financial institution or insurance company in an
amount not less than five hundred dollars ($500) and not more
than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per incident.
HEA 1081 — CC 1 Speaker of the House of Representatives
President of the Senate
President Pro Tempore
Governor of the State of Indiana
Date: Time:
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